It has been found that positive pressure ventilation of a structure sustaining an internal fire has many advantages. The use of positive pressure ventilation techniques usually results in removing the smoke in a fraction of the time previously required. The faster evacuation of smoke reduces smoke damage. Most importantly the rapid removal of the smoke dramatically increases fire fighting safety. The firemen have considerably greater visibility to see within the burning structure and to rapidly locate the hot spots without having to crawl on the floor. Also, the speedy removal of smoke and the replacement with cool fresh air allows breathing apparatus to be removed sooner. Overall physical stress of fire fighters is reduced with less stress related injuries. This all results in greater fire fighting productivity in being able to put the fire out more quickly. Furthermore, such a procedure causes less smoke and fire damage and increases fire fighter safety.
To be able to obtain the many advantages of positive pressure ventilation, a lightweight, hand portable positive pressure blower is required that can be easily maneuvered into position in front of an opening to the structure. The blower must be sufficiently compact to be able to conveniently fit on a fire fighting vehicle without interfering with other equipment. More particularly the blower need fit within a rather compact compartment on the vehicle. In addition it is necessary that the blower be able to direct a large volume of air in a rather confined directional air stream that is vertically adjustable.
Although there are a number of portable positive pressure blowers presently on the market, they are generally difficult to store in a small confined compartment on the fire engine. Furthermore such units generally, when in use, vibrate excessively and progressively change position. Consequently, it is not unusual for a fire fighter to either stand and hold the blower in place or to provide some type of hold down mechanism.
One of the objects and advantages of the present invention is to provide a compact, hand portable positive pressure blower that can be easily stored on a fire fighting vehicle, particularly in a rather small compartment.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a blower in which the vibration of the blower is sufficiently dampened so that it will not move when in full operation at its highest capacity.
An additional object of this invention is to provide such a blower that may be tilted at an infinite variation between zero and fifteen degrees without adversely affecting its stability.
These and other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of this invention.